"If you or I chose to live in a very remote place, to what extent is the taxpayer obliged to subsidise our services and, I think, this is a very real question," Mr Abbott told Sydney radio station 2GB last Wednesday.

"It is incredibly difficult for the kids to go to school, if there’s only half a dozen of them, and getting teachers there is all but impossible.

"Similarly, it’s very difficult for the adults to get a proper job if there’s no employment within hundreds of miles and this is where we have to be a little bit realistic."

Mr Abbott’s own chief adviser on indigenous affairs, Warren Mundine, said the Prime Minister’s comments were " a complete misconception".

"It is not about a lifestyle? It is about thousands of years’ connection, their religious beliefs and the essence of who they are," Mr Mundine said.

The Prime Minister has arranged a meeting in coming weeks with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Indigenous leaders to address a number of issues, including remote communities, funding cuts to Indigenous programs and constitutional recognition.